During the manufacture of painted parts, such as automotive body parts, industrial wastes are produced. By-products such as paint sludge particles are produced and require proper disposal. Systems for concentrating, filtering and removing paint sludge particles from mixtures derived from industrial solutions are necessary to meet environmental standards.
A common technique for capturing paint overspray/airborne paint particulate produced when operating a paint spray booth is to capture the particulate in a waterfall backdrop within the spray booth. The resulting liquid-and-particulate fluid mixture is then channeled into a suitable system in which the paint particulate is substantially removed from the liquid. The filtered liquid is thereafter advantageously recirculated back to the spray booth's waterfall backdrop to capture more airborne paint particulate.
The paint sludge system discussed above often require large amounts of liquid to be filtered. This in turn requires larger pumps and a larger or greater number of filters if necessary, to be used. Thus it is desirable to design systems that concentrate contaminate (i.e., paint sludge) in order to eliminate filtering and separating large volumes.
One problem that occurs is that foam and coagulated paint particles (i.e., paint sludge) form on the surface of the liquids in the various contaminant and consolidation tanks. In order to collect the paint sludge floating on the surface of the liquid a floating weir having a suction hose is used to remove paint sludge floating on the surface of the liquid in the various tanks. However when the amount of material floating on the surface of the liquid is too great the suction hose connected to the floating weir can become clogged with a paint sludge blockage. When such blockages occur the suction hose continues to draw liquid out of the paint sludge blockage, which makes the paint sludge blockage become more solid and plug the suction hose; resulting in failure of the portion of the system including the floating weir. It is desirable to prevent paint sludge blockages and plugs from forming in the suction hose or at the floating weir outlet.